APFSDS penetrators, e.g., FIG. 1, have a high ratio for length to diameter because the depth of penetration into armor is proportional to length of penetrator. The diameter is small, reducing the penetrator mass which must be accelerated in the interior ballistic cycle of the gun. The minimum penetrator diameter is governed primarily by the strength required to prevent bending or breaking in the launch and penetration into the armor. The sabot receives the principal part of the force during the launch acceleration, and must transmit the acceleration force to the penetrator.
Current designs for sabots and penetrators, in APFSDS munitions, incorporate buttress grooves, 5 FIG. 1, to allow the sabot 7 to engage and transmit the acceleration forces to the penetrator 13.
A major design problem confronting sabot development is that of force coupling during the interior ballistic cycle, and sabot discard upon muzzle exit.
This invention provides a means for solving the problem of force coupling through a new design which uses continuous filament reinforcements to reduce the stress on the buttress grooves and, thereby, permit the overall reduction of parasitic sabot weight.
Filamented reinforcements, e.g., glass filaments or carbon filaments, have high tensile strengths/weight, but not high shear strength/weight. Therefore, attempts to exploit the desirable tensile characteristics in a sabot, particularly in the buttress groove area where it is most needed to avert shear failure of the buttress teeth, would not be expected to be successful.